Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
SAGE Publications, 2022
Case Notes
Chapter 10: Managing Ethical Hot Spots in the Organization
Case Study 10.1: Marketing the Opioid Epidemic
Case Synopsis and Analysis
Purdue Pharma played a major role in triggering the nation’s opioid epidemic. The company,
owned by the Sackler family, aggressively marketed Oxycontin through funding favorable
research studies, paying physicians to promote the drug, advertising in medical journals, giving
out promotional items, and distributing promotional videos. Sales representatives told general
practitioners that the addiction rate for patients taking Oxycontin was less than one percent,
when it was actually much higher. Soon Oxycontin was generating a billion dollars a year for
Purdue.
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
SAGE Publications, 2022
Learning Objectives
• Students will evaluate the marketing tactics of Purdue Pharma.
Discussion Guide
Purdue Pharma violated a number of ethical principles and standards outlined in section one of
the chapter. You may want to focus on how the company violated one set of guidelines—
Case Study 10.2: Accounting/Finance Ethics Scenarios
Case Synopsis and Analysis
The three scenarios all involve pressure to set aside personal and professional integrity for
personal or company benefit. Readers are asked to evaluate the actions of the main characters
Learning Objectives
• Students will apply professional standards to evaluate the actions of finance professionals.
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
SAGE Publications, 2022
Discussion Guide
Be sure that students tie their judgments to particular code provisions. In all three scenarios, the
Case Study 10.3: Google’s Shadow Workforce
Case Synopsis and Analysis
Over half of Google’s workforce is made up of temporary workers, vendors and contractors
Other tech giants also rely heavily on temp workers in order to save money. Officials are
careful not to treat TVCs like full time employees, lest contractors fall under the same legal
protections as traditional workers. Both full time and temporary employees are challenging
Student Resource
Johnson, Organizational Ethics, 5e
SAGE Publications, 2022
Learning Objectives
• Students will evaluate the treatment of temporary employees at Google using principles
and standards for ethical human resource management.
Discussion Guide
Many in the group may be taken back at Google’s reliance on temporary workers given the
company’s reputation as a model employer. Google’s treatment of TVCs appears to be exploitive